East Africa Law Society demands release of Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire
The East Africa Law Society has demanded the release of activists Bonface Mwangi and Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire, who were arrested on Monday, May 19, 2025, in Tanzania.
In a statement on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, East Africa Law Society President Ramah Abubakar urged authorities in Tanzania to allow their families to communicate with them and give accurate information on their whereabouts.
‘As of 2:00 pm yesterday, assurances were made by the security apparatus of Tanzania to the legal team that the two EAC citizens would be deported back to their respective countries, Kenya and Uganda,” read the statement in part.
“We are now headed to the 3rd day since their arrest, and the two EAC citizens have not been released; neither have they been granted access to their families and their lawyers. This is a great infringement of the rights of an arrested person.”
This comes after Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi confirmed that Boniface Mwangi is still being held in custody in Tanzania, disputing widespread claims that he had been deported back to Kenya.
On May 20, 2025, Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) President Boniface Mwabukusi posted on X that he had received reports from Advocate Emmanuel Ukashu, who had been assigned to the case, that Mwangi and Atuhaire had been deported to their respective countries.
Musalia Mudavadi’s remarks
However, Mudavadi disputed the claims, noting that the Kenyan government was closely monitoring the matter through its mission in Tanzania during an interview with a local TV station on May 20, 2025.
“He is in Tanzania, and I’ve been in touch with the Kenyan mission there. He’s being held by the authorities, and we hope he’ll be released,” Mudavadi said.
“Our embassy is in touch with him as well, in terms of trying to figure out how he can be helped so that he can find his way back home.”
When Mudavadi was asked what Tanzanian authorities had told Kenya about the reasons for Mwangi’s detention, Mudavadi noted that no detailed explanation had been provided.
“But we all know through the media that a section of Kenyan individuals wanted to go and observe the judicial process that is going on there in Tanzania, based on the heightened emotive electoral processes that take place in any country when there are elections,” he said.
“So they went there, and the best we can conclude is that they seem to have rattled the administration in Tanzania. But we hope that we can resolve this issue diplomatically, and that’s what we are doing… so that the people who are there can be released and get back to their country.”
Mwangi was arrested at the Serena Hotel in the Tanzanian capital, where he had travelled to attend the treason trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
